Sport

Leeside derby the highlight of men's semis

BASKETBALL: THE MEETING of fierce rivals UCC Demons and Bord Gáis Neptune is just one of the highlights of this coming weekend…

Fri Jan 13 2012 - 00:00

BASKETBALL:THE MEETING of fierce rivals UCC Demons and Bord Gáis Neptune is just one of the highlights of this coming weekend's Men's and Women's SuperLeague National Cup semi-finals in Cork.

The Neptune Stadium will play host to a quartet of interesting battles in the Men’s and Women’s Superleague National Cup as last season’s beaten finalists 11890 Killester renew acquaintances with their former coach Mark Keenan, now leading the charge at UL Eagles.

Demons earned a morale boosting 99-64 win over Neptune during the Christmas break but head coach Paul Kelleher believes it will be their opponents who will carry the tag of favourites on Sunday.

“Neptune are on a great run of form over the last few weeks and will be very tough to beat, especially on their home court and that will make them favourites for the game,” said Kelleher.

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For Neptune, the game will give Mark Scannell’s side the opportunity to banish their recent hammering to Demons but the head coach believes his side are set for a difficult afternoon on Sunday.

“We have a mountain to climb,” said Scannell. “Confidence has been a little low since the defeat over Christmas. Demons have been excellent of late and were unlucky to lose their last league outing to 11890 Killester in overtime.”

UL Eagles head coach Mark Keenan is set to face his former charges 11890 Killester, who he led to the final last season as well as a league title in March.

Killester will be desperate to go one step closer to atoning for the disappointment of last season’s National Cup final loss to UCD Marian.

“Last season’s loss in the final still rankles with those of the squad that played in that game whereas it is a new experience for five of the squad and they are up for it,” said Killester head coach Darren O’Neill.

In the women’s section, Team Montenotte Hotel face a daunting challenge against UL, while cup holders DCU Mercy will be expecting a tricky test from capital rivals 11890 Killester.

UL will be desperate to make their excellent run of late count when they face a tough challenge against last season’s beaten finalists Team Montenotte Hotel.

Montenotte head coach Cormac O’Donoghue is hoping his side will enjoy better fortunes that his last meeting with UL.

“We know we have a huge task ahead of us as UL beat us by 15 points in November but during that game we made a lot of errors and now I believe we are playing better basketball,” said O’Donoghue.

Cup holders DCU Mercy will be wary of 11890 Killester, with just three points currently separating the sides in the Nivea Women’s SuperLeague.

NATIONAL CUP 2012 SEMI-FINAL SCHEDULE– Saturday: Women's Superleague – Team Montenotte Hotel v UL, Neptune Stadium, 6pm; Men's SuperLeague – 11890 Killester v UL, Neptune Stadium, 8pm. Sunday: Women's SuperLeague – DCU Mercy v 11890 Killester, Neptune Stadium, 2.30pm; Men's SuperLeague – Bord Gáis Neptune v UCC Demons, Neptune Stadium, 4.30pm.